Published January 17, 2017 at 4:43 PM Updated January 17, 2017 at 8:50 PM

At Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the fate of the U.S. detention facility and its 45 detainees now hinges on the soon-to-be Trump administration.

In a reversal of President Barack Obama’s pledge to shut down the prison, Donald Trump has promised to “load up” Guantanamo with more detainees.

CGTN’s Yasmeen Alamiri reports.

Fate of remaining Gitmo detainees in hands of new administration

Fate of remaining Gitmo detainees in hands of new administration

At Guantnamo Bay, Cuba, the fate of the U.S. detention facility and its 45 detainees now hinges on the soon-to-be Trump administration. In a reversal of President Barack Obama’s pledge to shut down the prison, Donald Trump has promised to “load up” Guantanamo with more detainees. CGTN’s Yasmeen Alamiri reports.

The president-elect tweeted in January that there should be no further releases from Guantanamo, saying the detainees are “extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield.”

Last February, President Obama made a final push to make good on his early promise to close Gitmo.

Even as late as October, there were hopeful signs for detainees.

The election of Trump, and his rhetoric towards Guantanamo has been of concern for some detainees.

Of nearly 800 accused terrorists detained since 2002 at GITMO, and 45 remain. The U.S. Congress has rejected any closure plans that would transfer detainees to facilities inside America.

Of the remaining detainees, 26 are being held without charge, but have been deemed by the U.S. as too dangerous to release. Nine have been approved for transfer, and 10 face military tribunals, including the five accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks.

But the additional room is still here, if the U.S. under Trump decides to up the numbers once more.

While the fates of the Guantanamo detainees are not entirely clear, early indications are that the Trump administration will take a drastically different approach to the controversial detention facility that lays less than 900 kilometers from the coast of the United States.

Morris Davis discusses Guantanamo Bay detainees

There are 10 detainees at Guantanamo now that have been accused of war crimes, including the five accused of the 9/11 attacks. As the administration switches from Obama to Donald Trump, what can be done with those detainees legally? To learn more about it, CGTN’s Asieh Namdar spoke with Morris Davis, fmr chief prosecutor for the U.S. Government at Guantanamo Bay.